Satellite orbital element (TLE) availability

A rather lengthy status report is at
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0503/02observing/
Note comments by Jonathan McDowell and Tom Kelso.


Satellite watchers worried about Air Force restrictions
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: March 2, 2005


[snip]

Allen Thomson wrote:
A rather lengthy status report is at
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0503/02observing/
Note comments by Jonathan McDowell and Tom Kelso.


A good report. It seems pretty clear to me that
if the U.S. Air Force stops providing TLEs,
others, probably non-U.S. others, will provide
them.

Heavens-Above.com is terrific, BTW. After watching
part of Peter Jenning's UFO show, I asked my sons
if they wanted to see a real "UFO". We looked up
at the sky at the apointed time and place, as
directed by Heavens-Above, and watched a nice,
bright Iriduim flash - the light in the sky earily
appearing, growing seriously bright, then dimming
and disappearing - all in a manner of seconds.
Their reaction, knowing that very few, if any,
others of the millions around us had seen what we
had seen: "COOOOOOOOOOOL!"

It would be a real shame to lose this kind of
neato inspiration-type stuff for kids.

- Ed Kyle

Ed Kyle wrote:

Heavens-Above.com is terrific, BTW. After watching
part of Peter Jenning's UFO show, I asked my sons
if they wanted to see a real "UFO". We looked up
at the sky at the apointed time and place, as
directed by Heavens-Above, and watched a nice,
bright Iriduim flash - the light in the sky earily
appearing, growing seriously bright, then dimming
and disappearing - all in a manner of seconds.
Their reaction, knowing that very few, if any,
others of the millions around us had seen what we
had seen: "COOOOOOOOOOOL!"

I once tried that on a date, and her reaction was "Oh, you are such a
geek!"

No more dates with her.

Mike Chan wrote:

Ed Kyle wrote:
[...] We looked up
at the sky at the apointed time and place, as
directed by Heavens-Above, and watched a nice,
bright Iriduim flash - [...]

I once tried that on a date, and her reaction was "Oh, you are such a
geek!"

No more dates with her.

In college, this guy I liked showed me Mir; I
thought he was fabulous! But then, he found
someone else and I became an aerospace engineer
anyway.

-- Anita --